UK family Visit visa application refused in India by UKVI. Need help to re-apply it.

[koti805]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post. My sister needs some advice to resubmit her UK family visit visa application to visit us (to attend our housewarming ceremony)

My sister made family (UK) visitor visa on 21/09/2023 in Hyderabad, India. Her entry clearance was refused by the visa officer on 06/10/2023 by the below reason.

The decision
I have refused your application for a visit visa because I am not satisfied that you meet the
requirements of paragraph(s) V4.2 of Appendix V because;
• In assessing your entry clearance application, I have considered all of the documents
and information provided against the requirements of Appendix V, and have also taken
into account the published Visit guidance. The guidance indicates a number of factors
which can help assess if an applicant is a genuine visitor, including but not limited to
the following:
- their financial circumstances as well as their family, social and economic
background
- their personal and economic ties to their country of residence
• You have applied for leave to enter the UK for 21 days for a family visit. I note the
reason for your visit and that you UK sponsor is paying for your visit however the
onus is on you the applicant to show that you meet the requirements of the
immigration rules based on your overall personal circumstances in your country of
residences.
• You state that you are self-employed and earn INR 175,810 (£1,749) per year. You
have declared no other source of income. In support of this you have provided your
income tax document and property evaluations. However these in isolation do not
demonstrate your self-employment income or how you maintain and support yourself
your country of residence. Therefore, I am not satisfied that you have presented an
accurate account of your circumstances. This undermines the credibility of your
application and I am not satisfied that you intend to visit the UK as a genuine visitor
and will leave the UK at the end of your proposed visit.
• The concerns noted in the paragraphs above mean that I am not satisfied that you
have accurately declared your personal and financial circumstances, which in turn
means I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that you are a genuine
visitor. While I note the information you have provided regarding your purpose of visit
to the UK, I am not satisfied that this outweighs the concerns noted above.
Therefore, I am not satisfied that you are genuinely seeking entry as a visitor and that
you will leave the UK at the end of your visit. Your application is therefore refused
under paragraphs V4.2 (a) and (c) of the Immigration Rules.

Rate of exchange: £1 = INR 100.51 (reference – www.oanda.com at the date of this letter)




She submitted the following documents:
1. Her & family assets net worth £645,000 (all family members agriculture lands)
2. Her income tax submission letter 1,75,810 Indian rupees (£1749). She mentioned she is a self employed.
3. Her brother (me) sponsored the sum around £3000 for her three weeks trip. I gave affidavit letter to bear all expenses like to and from flight tickets, accommodation, well being and so on. She also attached my bank statements and my last year P60. The balance is sufficient for her trip and my regular life.
4. Invitation letter provided by me. I invited her to join with us our housewarming ceremony and visit London and other tourist places in the UK in her trip. Her trip around three weeks.
5. Her husband's and her son's Aadhaar card(Indian national identity card) and my parents passport copies.
6. My wife's, our two son's and mine (all are British) passport copies.
7. Our current landlords no objection letter states that he does not have any objection my sister stay with us at the current property.
8. The new house completion letter (issued by our conveyancer/solicitors).
9. Self affidavit states that she returns to India when she completes her trip to join with her husband and look after her parents . All her expenses are look after by my brother(me).
10. She kept her SSC (Secondary School Certificate) and my Batchelors Degree certificate to establish our relation. Both documents have my father name. And also my parents passports and her passport copies.


She did not submitted the following documents:
1. Her personal bank statements. She maintained the balance between 50,000 and 230,000 Indian rupees (£480 and £2200).
2. Her son (only son and no other kids) in the UK and completed masters in August. Currently he applied his Post Study Work visa.

She does tailoring in India. She is 48 years old. Her husband do agriculture. He paid by cash when he sold his product like rice, cotton and chillies. She has got a house in her village but it did not valued due to no papers for it.

Please advise us how we need to re-apply visit visa to come to the UK. What we missed and how rectify the errors. What should include and what should not include for the visit application.

We also need cover letter to resubmit the application.

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards, KR

[meself2]

Why did she not submit her own bank statements?

That's one of the main things caseworkers look at. They want to see that she earns money (and how much), that it's her money (ie it came from wages/other reputable source), that she has enough money for the trip and so on.

[koti805]

Hi,
Thank you for your reply.
She did not attach her bank statements last time for the following reasons.
She is financially active but she did not have the funds to cover her entire trip.
Her brother (me) is sponsoring to cover all the expenses including flight tickets, to and from airport drop off and pickup, accommodation, well being, food and miscellaneous expenditure.
This is her first visa application and her brother was sponsoring her. She believed his bank statements and affidavit would be sufficient to support her visit visa application.


Thank you.

Regards, Kr

[lolo2]

That's a common mistake to believe that an applicant with a low income should not submit any financial evidence or bank statements and entirely rely on the sponsor.

As an example, my mother is retired and her pension was only £9 per month when I submitted her application last year, her visitors visa was approved at the first attempt. I submitted her bank statements reflecting that income - together with other supporting documents and an explanation on why she earns that very low income. My friends parents in exactly the same situation got their visas approved.

The ECO will assess the personal circumstances of the applicant, it doesn't matter how low the salary or income is, as long as everything is appropriately evidenced. The information of the sponsor is complementary.

I also believe she submitted several documents irrelevant for this purpose, it's clear that the ECO didn't take them into account. There's one section in the guidance listing some documents that applicants have to refrain from sending because they will have no impact on the outcome.

[koti805]

Thank you for your reply. We will do our best to resubmit the application. We do research and correct the mistakes we made. Thank you once again.